Founded in 1994 due to nationwide furor over violence in videogames (no GTA at the time kiddies, the big guns were Mortal Kombat and Night Trap), the Interactive Digital Software Association is set to enforce regulation of the gaming industry via a mandatory ratings system. Moreover, the IDSA served as a unified voice to represent their collective interests to the American public and government.

IDSA quickly gave birth to two things known to all gamers: the Entertainment Software Ratings Board and the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The company, which we've known as the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) since 2003,  has spent the last 13 years fending government regulation, fighting piracy, and serving as the industry's face.

However, the ESA does a little more than that - and they spend for more than just what has been mentioned. A Gamespot feature sheds light on just how much the ESA has to to spend in lobbying just to get the government to listen (or see it their way, lobbying is after all a legalized form of pseudo-bribery).

The total tally? In 2005 they spend US$ 2 million in federal lobbying efforts, and from the looks of things, they're set to exceed that in 2006. They're spending more than the Motion Picture Association of America. What's good about this is (despite the spending for online gambling and other debatable endeavors), a lot of the money goes to efforts that we all could safely call, gamer-centric.

If you want a better breakdown on how much they're spending, you can check out our "Read" link below. We warn you though, it's a bit closer to Wikipedia entry than a feature, but overall it's very informative. Makes you appreciate the ESA more for spending so much just so that GTA isn't deemed illegal to play.

At last year's E3, Konami revealed that work on a live-action movie based on Metal Gear Solid is now underway. We all found out about this via a pamphlet for Studio Kojima, the development house headed by Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima.

Since then we haven't gotten much details about the project, much less any word on who will be will be working on the movie. This has changed recently as Sony Pictures Entertainment vice chairman Yair Landau revealed that his studio is developing the project. After Landau delivered a keynote address in Las Vegas, Landau told this to GameSpot:

We're working with the Metal Gear guys.... It's a very cinematic game, it really lends itself to movie telling. But the question is, How do you translate Snake's experience into a full arc that conforms to what audiences expect on the large screen?

Landau also hinted that the "Metal Gear Solid" movie may just be the beginning. Landau hints that they're working on ideas for a possible EverQuest movie.

The "Metal Gear Solid" movie is currently the highest-profile game-film project in Hollywood. Top spot used to be held by the Peter Jackson-produced Halo adaptation, which is now unfortunately in development limbo.

Given how much we've been burned before by Uwe Boll (we're not saying he sucks, that's a matter of opinion, we believe it's safe to say though, that we all expected a lot more from his films), we urge caution. Let's see...what else has Sony Pictures Entertainment done before? As a distributor, they've had their hands in the Spider-Man franchise. What else? Oh, and as a production company they've done what? Hmn...oh yeah, "Spider-Man 2".

We're now asking you folks: Should we all be hopeful? Should we expect something that is miles away from the fan-made film we embedded above?

 

Gamespot was able to talk with NBA Street Homecourt producer Todd Batty recently. Below are some of the highlights of the interview.

When asked about what improvements they did to the previous installment in the franchise - NBA Street V3 - Batty said that their latest installment in the franchise draws not only from its immediate predecessor, but also from the other versions of Street. He says that they incorporated the pick-up-and-play aspect of the first, they got the fun factor of the second, and they added some refinement from NBA Street V3.

He adds that fans of the franchise will immediately recognize the features from all three previous games.

When asked about what the improved next-gen hardware means to the series, Batty says that because of the extra horsepower in both the PS3 and the 360, they were able to build a responsive animation control system, put in the best NBA player models they can, and then add in detailed 360-degree environments and still run the game at a smooth 60fps on both consoles.

When asked about why they decided to shift controls for the tricks back to the face buttons, Batty explains that they wanted to create a gameplay that could be enjoyed by casual gamers but could still satisfy hardcore gamers.

On the Xbox Live achievements and the unlockables in the game, Batty says that the Xbox live achievements they've set up is set to support the single-player aspect of the game, and that their system is set to reward pulling off new gameplay moves. For example, you can get a "Dunkalicious" achievement if you perform five jump-off dunks, and it should net you 50 points.

As for unlockables, he explains that there should be able to unlock five courts, a large selection of shoes, teams from specific regions of USA (Chicago all-stars), and you can customize (level-up) your custom player's attributes by performing various trick moves, and dunks during the Homecourt Challenge.

To read the whole Gamespot interview, feel free to use our read link below

While Europe and Australia waits for the Playstation 3's arrival on March 23, Randolph Ramsay of GameSpot Australia decided to ask Microsoft Australia's top Xbox exec, David McLean, what he anticipates from the addition of competition.

For McLean, he's pleased with the current progress of the 360 down under. GfK Australia figures mark Xbox AU shares at approximately 145,000 units in the market. He is also satisfied at the current status of the Xbox 360 in its life cycle and that they're notably ahead of the competition.

All the talk about life cycles seemed to have stemmed from the fact that the competitors have claimed that the 360's install base hasn't hit anywhere near the PS2's. McLean justifies the 360's progress based on the point in the life cycle it's situated in now. He has every belief that the momentum of the product puts the 360 "on track."

McLean, just like another Sony exec, acknowledges the Wii's success and respects Nintendo's experience in the industry and their innovative direction. He is speculative, however, of the attach rate of the console. He stated that the Wii could be challenged by that fact. He believes that the right games and software would be able drive the rate up and continually provide rich content to support the motion-sensing game drive.

With the launching of the PS3, McLean knows that the real truth will come out once stores display the PS3, 360, and Wii side-by-side. Customers' first-hand experiences will now reveal which console they really favor the most. He's also pretty happy that the 360 does provide great value for money. Even with the price difference between the PS3 and the 360, he believes that price does play a part in the race, although he is sure that it depends all on the customer's choice.

You can click on the "Read" link below to read the whole session.

Sega's Virtua Fighter series has evolved from cubic muscles and cone-shaped breasts to the sleek, toned, eye-candy glory that it is now. Just take a look at the screens above and compare them. You've got the Next-Gen pitted right against the Ancient-Gen. Virtua Fighter 5 has more than a decade of VF-history behind it (first game came out 1993) and you won't even need a master's degree in video game design to prove how far the game has reached.

Today, we've got a couple more screens to throw a punch out on you, and although the game is also to come out for the 360, these screens are for the PS3-version (or at least, as GameSpot categorizes it).

Enjoy the screens behind the "Full Article" link.

GameSpot interviews Denby Grace, producer for 2K, to get a heads up of what has been the development of late on Starbreeze Studios' latest work: The Darkness. It's a game loosely based on one of Top Cow's comics called "Resurrection". It introduces this mafia hitman named Jackie Estacado and his 21st birthday surprise gift: the Darkness.

The game has just entered its Alpha phase and much of the remaining features get polished up. Starbreeze's well-received title, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, is just as polished and 2K sees their responsibility for doing the same for The Darkness. They raised the whole cinematic feel of the game with effects such as motion blur and bullet trails. And there's a new model of Jackie, looking much, much better than before.

The connection between WWI and the contemporary New York setting couldn't be revealed as it would ruin the whole story, but the WWI reference seems to come out of the gameplay feel, as Jackie entrenches himself with allies who will fight on his side...still don't get it? 2K did say it was a twisted story anyway...

Blu-ray for the PS3 offers Starbreeze with a chance to include actual TV shows for realistic TV viewing in the game for additional content. Players will watch television anyway to get some mission-specific information that only could be viewed in the old tubes. Multiplayer also offers instant action and intense combat with an Alien Versus Predator feel as the Darklings can climb walls, move faster, see in the dark and attack with claws. Shapeshifting shoves the player into becoming a Darkling, so that he can experience the "Alien" side in single player mode.

The Darkness is slated for a 2007 second quarter release.

A few days back, we talked about the AIAS awards which has Loco Roco, Wii Sports, Gears of War among its many nominees for a wide variety of categories. One thing that we didn't notice from the list is that no Capcom games were nominated, Dead Rising for the Xbox 360 and Okami for the PS2 were surprisingly absent from the Console Game of the Year category. This earned the ire of Capcom and in an issued statement, this is what they had to say about that:

According to the AIAS DICE website, 'Since 1998, the peer-based Interactive Achievement Awards are dedicated to recognizing the outstanding products, talented individuals, and ground-breaking development teams that have propelled the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.' What the site neglects to mention is that a product, individual or development team cannot and will not be nominated for an award unless a company buys its way in to the AIAS.

Harsh as it may sound, you can't really blame Capcom for feeling that way since for the past two years, no Capcom game has been nominated for an AIAS award. Also, they really believe that finances and memberships are taken into consideration when its time to nominating a game.

Now, it's a good thing that there are two sides to any story. Speaking to GameSpot, AIAS President, Joseph Olin denied Capcom's accusations and mentioned that the only reason why the members-only rule is in place is because it allows AIAS to be a purely independent organization, and memberships are not their way of making money. He continued by saying:

As powerful a medium we are, we need an independent voice that is able to recognize singular accomplishments within the medium. The only way to do that is to involve all the various parties, ... have them put aside their natural competitive tendencies, ... and be able to speak as one voice as to what are the year's best games.

Now, it's your turn to share your thoughts on this issue. We'll keep you updated for future developments.

Destructoid reports that Sony has hiked the price on the PlayStation 3 60GB unit in Canada from CA$ 649.99 to CA$ 699.99. Both Future Shop and BestBuy are listing the new price. Some screencaps of the listing for the PS3 from both retailer's websites follow (you  might want to click on the thumbnail for a bigger view):

  

This price increase leaves some of us here at QJ baffled because we were getting the impression that Sony would've wanted the console to be cheaper if they could afford it. Perhaps they were encouraged by the opinion of UK retailers and they felt that they could increase the price? Some of us here are already thinking that perhaps Sony marketing thinks that a price tag with sixes and nines will be catchy... or something.

Considering shipping costs, or gas money, it might just be cheaper for a Canadian to import a PS3 unit from the US.

Anyhow, Gamespot has already updated that report and clarifies that it's not actually Sony's fault why the prices jumped up. An SCEC representative was quoted as saying:

Although the suggested retail price (SRP) of the PlayStation 3 in Canada has not changed, some Canadian retailers have chosen to increase their retail price as a result of the weaker Canadian dollar. This increase is solely at the discretion of the retailers, as Sony Computer Entertainment Canada has not issued a price increase.

See, so it ain't Sony's fault after all...

 

Stranglehold, the upcoming game for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 has all the makings of a successful game - John Woo touches, Chow Yun-Fat appearances, and Midway games development. Surprisingly, it has been quite a while since we've talked about this game. But recently, Stranglehold game director Brian Eddy was interviewed by GameSpot and since the interview is quite hefty, we'll dish out the more interesting bits.

When asked for an update on the game's development, Mr. Eddy had this to say:

Development is going well. All the major features are up and running in the game, and we are focused now mostly on creating content and polishing up the gameplay. We still have a lot to get done, but at this point the game is really fun to play and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel...All platforms are looking very good, and the game looks great on the next-gen hardware. We don't anticipate the visual or gameplay experience being very different on either platform, so we think we will be able to satisfy PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 owners with Stranglehold.

Interestingly, he talked about three of their key Tequila-bomb moves. Precision Aim will allow players to go "into first person where they can directly target critical hit points on an enemy to take them out with one-shot kills, or even focus on an element in the environment with precise aim, such as a propane tank causing a massive explosion in one area." The second move is the Barrage which unleashes "a flurry of bullets at high speed that takes out any enemies (and their cover) that are in your path."

The last Tequila-bomb move he mentioned was the Spin Attack. He says that it "is a medium range 360 degree attack in the vein of the "smart bombs" in old arcade games that clear all the enemies in the immediate area surrounding you."

Then he was asked if Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo have played the game lately, the game director answered it by saying:

Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo are not big gamers, so they don't play games themselves very often, but they do review Stranglehold regularly and give very good comments on how to take the cinematics to the next level and help make the overall look and feel of the game true to the movies it is styled on.

To read the word-per-word account of the interview, click on the read link below.

Buy: [Stranglehold for PS3]
Buy: [Stranglehold for Xbox 360]
Buy: [Stranglehold for PC]

Here's a bit of news that may add some more fuel to the furnace that is the Saints Row PS3 rumor. Apparently even Pacific Crest Securities analysts are thinking that the rumor just might be true. Over at a report in Gamespot this paragraph can be found:

Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson today sent out a note to investors with his take on the THQ earnings revision, including speculation on the mystery PS3 game. Wilson said he believes the game to be a new version of Saints Row, with the delay meant to either manage the company's flow of games into the market or improve the overall quality of the game.

Of course, as Chris L. said, the EBGames listing that has Saint's Row listed as a PS3 game no longer works, and expectedly, THQ is yet to comment about the matter. If this yet-be-released, yet-to-be-given-a-title PlayStation 3 game that THQ is so quiet about isn't Saints Row, then they're probably keeping quiet to milk the attention and take advantage of the anticipation of said mystery game.

Of course, the standard forum-troll reply would be: "Saints Row on PS3? Meh." For those who do care,  the increased probability of this rumor being true is definitely good news.